Las Vegas City Council Again Faces Badlands Development Proposals

Plans to build homes on the site of the failed Badlands golf course are again before Las Vegas City Council.

Several items at Wednesday’s meeting deal with efforts to turn the shuttered course in western Las Vegas into a mixture of single- and multi-family homes.

An effort by landowner Yohan Lowie to build on the site suffered a setback earlier this year when a judge ruled the city violated its own policies and procedures in approving some construction there.

Councilman Steve Seroka, who was elected mostly on this issue, told KNPR's State of Nevada that the ruling "actually helped to clarify some of the city's own rules."

He said the ruling required the city to make changes to its master plan to address some of the concerns raised by the case. The judge ruled there is no development entitlement, meaning no one has the right to develop on the land because it is designated open space or recreation space.

However, the judge's ruling left open the option for the developer to ask the city council to allow development on the land.

Several items on this week’s agenda would allow development to begin at the old golf course near Rampart Boulevard and Alta Drive.

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Right now, the golf course is dry and the trees around it are dying. The owner of the golf course is taking down trees that are a fire hazard.

If the city council votes against allowing the development, the question of who will maintain the open space is not decided.

Seroka said there are several options, including reopening it as a golf course or a possible land swap.

“I think all those would be on the table it’s just a matter of who is willing to come to the table and talk about them,” he said.